Sakura
by 8Dwriter-in-training8D
Summary: 20 year-old Sakura Haruno stood there, staring in shock. The last thing she remembered was the War and that leaded to the destruction of Konoha... and now she's literally staring into the eyes of the past. "Who are you! Why are you in my house! And why do you look like me!" a twelve year old Sakura pointed at her. "Sasuke-kun!" "Kami I used to be so annoying!"
1. Chapter 1

The sound of fire crackling and everything burning was all Sakura's ears could catch… she lifted a bloody hand to her wounded shoulder… she was covered in blood, pain filled her body in massive amounts, her charka was depleted down to nearly zero; her eyes burned both from the smoke and emotional pain.

She looked up to see her once beloved village burn to the ground all around her… The terrifying screams of fear and pain no longer heard; bodies of both civilians and Shinobi alike littered the ground. Blood saturated her line of vision.

Everyone was dead… women, children, men and elders alike… The people she once fought for and healed to protect and help were all now gone.

Her friends were dead, she saw them fall, Rock lee, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Tsunade-Shishou… and…

Sakura looked next to her… Ino lay there, bloody, bruised and beaten, her blonde hair was saturated in red, along with her mingled body… she was breathing in shallow gasps and Sakura knew she didn't have much time left as Ino looked at her with her once vibrant blue eyes, "Sakura…" Ino gurgled, coughing out even more blood that stained their bodies "Don't look back…" she croaked, barely above a whisper as a barely visible smile touched her lips.

"Ino…" Sakura's tears spilled the ground, mixing with the blood; she didn't know what Ino meant by that… and she couldn't help her friend… her charka was too low, she was no good…

Why was she never good enough?

Ino just smiled, "Forehead girl…" she whispered and her eyes closed, her breathing coming to a halt as she remained motionless.

"Ino!" Sakura chocked out a barely audible cry as the last of her friends were now gone…

An insane laugh filled her ears as she looked farther away to see the three remaining Shinobi…

Sasuke laughed, as if witnessing the most hilarious thing in the world, the curse-mark had engulfed him, he was a monster, his skin was grey and his hair was a light shade and hand-like wings stuck out of his back, he was saturated by innocent blood. He had lost his sanity a long time ago… he was weakening, but his insanity kept him standing.

Madara stood meters away behind him, amused and giddy… the Uchiha bastards…

They had gone against the village… bringing an army and forming an unexpected attack… it had turned into a brutal, inhuman massacre.

"SASUKE!" Naruto screamed in fury, the demon-fox charka had gone haywire during the great battle… but now it was coming to an end… he was weakening… his charka was fading…

The leaf village lost…

"Naruto…" Sakura whimpered, she had to protect her friend… he was the last person to fight off the Uchihas… she had to help him… she had to do something… anything!

With much difficulty she stood on her useless legs, she burned with pain at every movement she made. Her body was at its limits.

She saw Naruto charge up his last strength to form his last Rasengan and Sasuke his Chidori.

It was like that time on the hospital roof all over again…

She ran as fast as she could towards the two, who were now soaring towards each other to land the final blow.

She would stop Sasuke…

Madara had caught sight of her… he ran towards her to end her life and not interfere… The sword was mere meters away from her, she could not dodge…

Suddenly a body came in the way; she looked to see Shizune stab a kunai in Madara's gut as he ran his sword through her.

"Run Sakura! Get out of here!" was Shizune's last words.

Madara looked surprised but then his eyes narrowed, he had been distracted as Sakura, with determination aimed her weapon at Sasuke as her two old teammates went to kill each other.

No… she would protect Naruto, even if it meant giving her life!

Sakura ran in between them.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the pink haired girl, "SAKURA-CHAN!" he could not stop his attack.

The Chidori and Rasengan clashed with Sakura…

There was immense pain, a loud scream ripping through her throat and then… everything went black.

**And the ending, was where everything started.**

Emerald eyes cracked open, Sakura groaned, her head ached and her body felt sore; she lifted a hand to her head and sat up, the pink haired Kunoichi blinked twice, all the memories suddenly coming back to her.

She gasped and shot up, her eyes widening tremendously as she looked at her surroundings.

"Naruto!" She called in fear: Where was she?! Where's Naruto?! Was he dead?! No he can't be dead! He's Naruto! The future Hokage! Was the village completely destroyed?! Had Madara won?!

_No, no, no!_

In her hysteria, she stumbled and fell back; she groaned but then realized her body was not in as much pain as she remembered… she looked down at herself…

No blood, no injuries…

Her eyes widened, and grabbed at herself… nothing hurt!

Her clothes weren't torn, her hair wasn't sticky with blood and dirt, her body was fine and her charka was in normal levels.

"What the hell?!" she yelped in fear and shock, landing back on the soft grass.

Wait, what?! Grass?! But everything was burning! There shouldn't be grass!

She sat up again, feeling the grass to make sure she wasn't imagining things… her eyes then finally landing on her surroundings.

A forest was presented before her, green, intact… no fallen or burned trees… forest animals scattering about… birds chirping… the smell of smoke or destruction was nowhere to be sensed…

Sakura stared for a moment, a small gasp escaping her lips, "I'm dead…" she muttered and paused, looking at her hand for a sec but then landed on her back again and started laughing hysterically.

She grabbed her sides, uncontrollable laughter bubbling up and she inwardly compared herself to Sasuke laughing "I'm dead!" she cackled madly and sat up, "I am dead! Yup! Where's Kami?! I'd like to have a word with him!" she yelled to the sky, on the verge of loosing her marbles.

She laughed hard; luckily nobody was around to see her.

Soon her laughter subsided, wiping the tears from her eyes and cleared her dry throat; she got up and looked around.

"Wow, I didn't think Heaven would look so… average." She mumbled and walked along the very…very familiar forest.

"Hello? Kami?! You there?" she called, somehow expecting an angel or something to come down and present her a white robe and a halo.

Nobody answered and Sakura scratched her head, "Weird… if I'm dead, shouldn't I be at peace or something?" she held her rumbling stomach, "…and I don't think dead people should feel hungry… and why does this forest look familiar? Clearly I haven't been in Heaven before…" she added.

The thought then struck her, "Wait… so I'm not dead!" she grinned to herself.

Slow clapping was heard inside her head as her inner clapped sarcastically, **'Way to go genius, you should win an award!'**

Sakura grumbled at her imaginary self, "Damn, now I **know** I'm not dead…"

Sakura's feet somehow managed to take her to a very familiar spot.

It didn't take her more then 5 seconds to realize that she was in training ground 3…

But… it was destroyed during the war… the trees and grass and everything should be burned, turned to ashes and with a small explanation… not be there.

Sakura rubbed her temples… okay, there has to be a logical explanation.

Calm down Sakura, just calm down.

The pink haired young woman took in a deep breath.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

She opened her eyes again and saw that nothing changed. She was now cautious, letting her guard up and keeping her charka expertly masked, she had such a great charka control that not even Madara had been able to spot her during the war, and managed to wound him in the shoulder before he sent her flying first class across the village from a simple punch. How she survived? She would never know.

The 20 year old girl walked across the field, deep in her thoughts.

Ha-ha, it would be really funny if she just walked up to her supposed 'destroyed' village and not see even a scratch on it-

Sakura froze in her tracks, when the village came into view…

There. Proudly and full of strength, stood the leaf village's gates.

'**What. The. Hell?'** Inner echoed her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming, clearly she was hallucinating. Maybe she really had lost it?

There, in all its ever-loving glory stood the hidden leaf village…

Okay… what?

Her eyes were wide as her breath got caught in her throat.

Her legs shakily managed to carry her to the gates, staring in awe at her beloved home… it wasn't burned down… the gates weren't destroyed… no smoke rose from anywhere, she didn't smell blood or death… in fact… she smelled something cooking…

What?

She numbly walked towards the village and spotted the two guards… she had seen them die early in the war. One had gotten decapitated and the other died from blood loss… it made her stomach lurch seeing them again… healthy and walking around, when she knew what had happened to them.

Sakura gapped at them, they caught sight of her hidden leaf headband, so they didn't ask her questions, but they DID however look at her oddly as she walked into the village like a gapping fish.

People were bustling about, doing their daily chores… _alive_…

She saw many people she had known and seen their deaths…

The buildings were _whole_ and standing _firmly_ on the ground… they weren't crippled or destroyed or burned…

She looked around, as if she was witnessing God's descent upon earth.

Some people looked at her oddly, but of course who could blame them? She was walking around like she had lost her mind, starting at people and objects in complete awe.

"Oh my Kami…" she stumbled around, utterly shocked, but tried to compose herself when she noticed people staring at her in bewilderment.

She came close to a very familiar street… she looked around, not noticing someone exiting a flower shop and bumped into them…

Sakura couldn't mumble out an apology, she was still in a state of shock. She looked at the person she bumped into… and froze.

Long platinum blonde hair, blue eyes and purple attire… a twelve year old girl stood in front of her, a bouquet of flowers in her hands…

"Oh, sorry" the girl smiled in apology and Sakura paled, her eyes almost bulging out of her head as she stared at the young female in front of her.

The girl's smile faded; a look of concern and a bit of recognition flashing in her eyes as Sakura gave a loud gasp.

Cold sweat started forming on the pink haired girl's brow as the person in front of her froze her to the very core of her being.

"Um… is something wrong, Miss? You look a bit pale…" the blonde asked but had no time to voice anything else as a blood curling scream ripped through the air.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

The blonde girl jumped in startle as Sakura let out a horrified shriek, people's heads turning to see what was wrong as the pinkette stumbled back and ran into a few people but quickly sprinted off into another direction like she just saw the Devil himself, leaving the confused and bewildered crowd behind.

...

Sakura ran; she ran as if her sanity depended on it, which was true. She ran until she was outside of the village, soon stopping and leaned on a tree.

This couldn't be true; she has to be dreaming…

Sakura suddenly didn't feel so good and quickly fell on her knees to spill her guts out.

She hurled and coughed until all the contents in her stomach were spilled on the ground.

She ran her shaking pale fingers across her scalp. She didn't see what she thought she saw. This couldn't be possible. Her village was destroyed, everyone was dead; she knew they were, she saw it. It just NOT POSSIBLE!

That wasn't Ino… she couldn't have just seen Ino! Ino was dead! She died! She can't be alive!

"I don't believe it…" she stumbled back, her legs feeling like jelly, "No… no…. no…I don't… believe it…" her vision was failing as her world became black.

Sakura passed out.

…

'**Hey! Wake up! You got to get it together girl!'** a voice yelled in her head, and then, from behind her eyelids, Inner Sakura appeared in her line if vision, **'Don't just lie there! Get up! You're a Kunoichi! What kind of ninja freaks out like that?!'**

'_I-I saw Ino… I saw people in my village… they were alive…it's not possible...' _

'**I know! But you can't just give up on me! Get up and try and figure out what the hell is going on! I'm as freaked out as you are but I ain't willing to die in the cold because of you! Now get up!' **Inner Sakura hit her across the head.

Sakura's eyes snapped open.

She abruptly sat up to find herself where she fainted.

She noticed that the sun was setting… how long was she out?

The pinkette shivered and rubbed her arms when her brain managed to interpret her bodily needs.

She was cold, hungry, thirsty and mentally exhausted.

How did nobody find her body so close to the village?

Well, even so, she didn't care, in fact, she was glad nobody found her… she needs to sort out her thoughts and investigate… and seeing another familiar face so soon would surely NOT help at all.

Heh, it was then that Sakura realized how lucky she is to have an inner, because she would have surely gone insane.

'**No need to thank me, just doing my job, now keep your head on straight and do whatever you need to do Sakura' **

"Thanks" Sakura grumbled and sat there, she may have been needing food and rest right now, but all that was residing in the village, she needed to think before she went in THERE.

Okay, so the last thing she remembers before entering this alternate dimension was Naruto and Sasuke charging at her with their most deadly weapons.

They hit her full on… and then she woke up here.

But how? She should be dead and she knew she wasn't dead, cuz there were no fluffy clouds or cute little naked angels around her, she didn't have a halo or a white robe, and she certainly wasn't in hell either… was she? Nah, there were no little naked devils or hellfire anywhere...

'**Focus Sakura!'**

Okay so… after she 'died' in that hell where everyone was dead, she woke up here where everyone was handy-dandy and alive.

Okay so…

There was only one logical explanation for this…

She must be dead.

Inner face-palmed, '**Why do I deal with an idiot? We're not dead you moron!'**

"Then how the hell do I explain this?!" she cursed out loud at her thoughts.

'**THINK! You idiot! When you got into the village what did you see?!'**

Well, everyone was alive… but they were… younger… Ino looked around twelve years old.

But how? How can she be so young? How can this be? Did the power of the Rasengan and the Chidori create some weird malfunction and send her off into another dimension?

Sakura lingered on the thought for a bit…

Nah.

Sakura wracked her thoughts to try and figure out what the hell was going on but soon her body groaned in protest, needing attention.

Okay, she'll figure it out in the morning, but she needed to keep a low profile, everyone didn't seem to recognize her, so people asking her questions she could not answer, was out of the question.

She got up, masking her charka and stealthily sneaked into the village again, her black attire blending in with the darkness as well.

She grabbed her leaf bandanna and wrapped the fabric around her head, covering her hair completely, if it was one thing people would question her for, it would be her hair. Ibiki had given it to her a year ago, telling her that her hair was too vibrant and the enemy would be able to spot her easily, so he gave her a similar bandanna to his own and she kept her hair covered on most missions since then.

Right now it was her mission to figure out what the hell is going on or she'd be damned.

Luckily, as she walked the streets nobody recognized her; she was just an average Shinobi in their eyes; that was good. Guess Ibiki's bandanna idea was useful after all. She also hid her tattoo that had gave her ANBU rank away, no need to be thought of as a high ranked Shinobi, she would get questioned.

Sakura had 'borrowed' some spare cash from a few people and got herself enough money to eat; now stealing wasn't her style, she hated it in fact, but she just couldn't sum up the courage to go to her (once burned down) house, she wasn't ready yet.

She didn't have much, so she decided to fill her hunger with something cheap but good… she passed a ramen stand.

Something twisted in her gut and it wasn't from hunger.

She didn't want to go in there, too many memories flooding in there, but she froze in her tracks when a familiar voice rang in the air, "I'm going to surpass everyone who came before me!"

Her heart clenched when that high-pitched male voice echoed into the depths of her mind…

She slowly turned, hesitantly lifting her hand to push the curtain aside.

Her breath got caught in her lungs as a lump formed in her throat; she wasn't ready for this…

She spotted a very familiar orange clothed back… but it wasn't tall or muscular… it was short… and small…

"And when that day comes, everyone in town will have to give me some respect at last!" the orange clothed boy shouted in confidence, making Sakura's breath hitch.

There sat a twelve year old Naruto, slurping up ramen as his teacher she recognized as Iruka sat next to him.

Sakura stood there frozen, her body refusing to cooperate as she stared at her beloved teammate and friend.

"By the way Master, I need a favor…" the blonde started, "another bowl of ramen?" Iruka chuckled, "Uh… your headband, the one you're wearing? Pretty please?!" he begged to wear it.

Iruka snorted and shook his head, "No way Naruto, It's a badge of adulthood, you don't get one until you graduate."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms in offense, "What a rip-off!" he scowled and Iruka just laughed.

"Can I help you, miss?" The man behind the counter asked, she had been staring at the two ninjas for a good 10 minutes and the man was getting suspicious.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat, Goosebumps forming on her skin as two pairs of eyes turned back to look at her.

'**Okay Sakura, don't freak out. Do. NOT. Freak out.'** Her inner tried to calm both of them, **'Just keep cool, order a bowl of ramen to not get suspicious, and avoid eye contact at all times.'**

She stiffly made her way to the counter and sat down two seats away from little Naruto, oh God this was torture, **'Don't look at him Sakura, don't look at him Sakura'**

"Ahem, One miso bowl" She cleared her throat and turned her head to look at the man… memories flooded back, it was the old man, he was so nice to everyone… he was Ayame's father if she remembered well… he died a couple of years before the war. He had a heart attack in his sleep.

The man nodded and went to work; she drummed her fingers on the counter as she felt eyes on her.

'**Don't move Sakura, don't even breathe. You are just a casual Shinobi, yes, nothing out of the ordinary, you're just a normal stranger, happily ordering your ramen, a twelve year old Naruto and your long-since-dead old sensei isn't staring at you, nope, you're not freaked out at all, you'll just quickly eat and then get the hell-' **

"Excuse me, Miss?" Iruka's voice was heard, and much to her dismay it was directed to her, she held back a flinch and slowly, painfully turned to look at them.

"Yes?" she stiffly replied. Okay now she sounded WAY too suspicious, **'CALM THE FUCK DOWN SAKURA! CALM DOWN, YOU DON'T SEE ME FREAKING OUT DO YOU?! JUST RELAX YOUR MUSCLES!'** inner, on the contrary was having a hysterical panic attack, despite being calm on the outside, it was taking all of her willpower not to start screaming and yelling and crying and destroying stuff like a lunatic.

Thanks to her training, she forced her muscles to relax even if her heart was starting to beat a mile a second.

She didn't want to start screaming again like she did with Ino.

"Pardon me asking, but I'm not sure I have seen you before, are you new?" Iruka commented as Naruto kept staring at her.

Of course, Sakura knew Iruka didn't know too many Shinobi, but damn when it came to faces, he had a good memory.

"No" Sakura replied, gulping down the water to ease her dry throat, "I just don't go out often… and… whenever I'm not home… I'm on missions… so I don't exactly take strolls… often…" she said and as soon as the old man lay her bowl in front of her, she immediately started eating, avoiding eye contact at all times.

"Um… okay…" Iruka caught on that she wasn't the social type and left it there, he had mostly talked to her because she didn't look too well.

"You don't look good, lady" Naruto voiced Iruka's thoughts and despite being a bit freaked out, a vein popped in her head, "What's that supposed to mean?" she growled and looked at the boy but couldn't find herself to look into his eyes, "I mean, you feel okay? You look like you saw a ghost or something." he added.

Sakura finished slurping the last of her food and got up, placing the amount she needed to pay '_I probably am seeing ghosts'_ she thought to herself "I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired from my mission, that's all."

Before any of them could comment, she got up and left.

'**This sucks, this fucking sucks!'** Inner yelled and flailed her arms around, **'We gotta find out what's going on! Because I think we both might loose it! We just saw a twelve year old Naruto, A TWELVE YEAR OLD NARUTO, ALONG WITH A TWELVE YEAR OLD INO! DOES EVERYONE LOOK 8 YEARS YOUNGER OR WHAT?!'**

Sakura resisted the urge to punch something, she needed sleep. Her day was torture.

But then a thought struck her… everyone looks 8 years younger… there's only one possibility in this… either she was indeed dead… or she was…

…sent to the past.

"…"

'**Well… shit.'** Inner voiced.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay so… the first thing everyone should know… Sakura was loosing her marbles.

She rubbed her temples and sighed, "I must be crazy" she sat on a tree, trying to sort out her thoughts.

But there was no other explanation! She wasn't dead, she wasn't dreaming, she wasn't THAT insane.

'***cough*cough*'**

"Shut up inner"

So she must have been sent to the past.

'**Okay… now what?'**

Well… now she needed to go home, and if she sees her past self? Well, to hell with it, she could always shove herself in her closet and sleep on her comfy bed until morning.

Surely little Sakura wouldn't mind sleeping in the closet?

Of course not.

She entered from her window, she looked around… her past self was nowhere to be seen.

'Weird…' Sakura thought, what was she doing out this late at night 8 years ago?

She then remembered; she was at a friend's house for a sleepover. But it definitely wasn't Ino's house. The two were rival's for Sasuke's affections back then, so no way in hell would they be attending to sleepovers.

Sakura shrugged, not really caring, she just stripped off her clothes and took a shower.

When she came out, she had wrapped a towel around herself and looked around, trying to find clothes her size.

She opened her closet door to see the same red dresses she wore back then, all of them the same; Sakura grimaced, she had horrible taste in clothes; the red clashed with her hair, and she prepped herself up too often and… MAN didn't she have like, some kind of _different_ piece of clothing? I mean, come on! They were ALL dresses?!

Ugh… and all that for the affections of a bastard.

'**Wow, I had never been more proud of myself.' **Inner commented sarcastically, crossing her arms and Sakura reluctantly agreed.

'**Note to self: Beat myself senseless when I appear in front of me.'**

Finally, after messing up her room, she finally found a big baggy black t-shirt in which wrote 'To Hell with it' that she had once stolen from her father because it was so comfortable, and a pair of black tights. She tossed her dirty clothes onto a nearby chair and landed ungracefully on the bed.

Sleep quickly took over.

…

The pinkette woke up to the sound of voices, muffled voices from downstairs… she sat up and stretched, cracking her back and looked at her alarm, 11:45 am.

Wow… she had never slept in so much; she guessed she really did miss her old comfy bed.

But Sakura didn't exactly comprehend the situation when the door opened and a young pink haired girl came walking in with a bag slung over her shoulder.

Sakura stared dumbfounded when another pair of green eyes exactly the same as hers caught her stare.

Well, that settles it; Sakura was staring at her past self, and her past self was staring back.

Oh, what would one do in this situation?

Oh right.

Younger Sakura's eyes widened, her bag dropping on the floor in shock as older Sakura just comprehended the situation, she shot out of the bed as soon as the twelve year old girl let out a scream.

Sakura quickly jolted forward, slapping her hand over the young pinkette's mouth as she closed the door quickly.

"Shhh!" Sakura shushed the girl; the young pink haired girl started hyperventilating in panic, weakly struggling to break free from her captor.

"Okay, listen up girl, I'll let you go now, but if you scream or call for help, I will kill you, got it?" Sakura said darkly, making her younger self freeze in fear but the girl nodded anyway.

She let go of little Sakura and the girl backed up against the wall, shaking a little.

"Sakura honey! Are you alright? I thought I heard a yell!" the sound of her mother's voice was heard from downstairs… Both girls' breaths hitched… but for different reasons…

Younger Sakura gasped because if she called for help from her mother, she would die.

Older Sakura gasped because it was the first time she heard her mother in over 6 years… her mother had died from Cancer… and now hearing her again brought a fresh pain in her chest…

Masking her pain, Sakura glared at her younger self, "uh… I uh… yeah mom! I-I'm fine!" the small girl squeaked.

"Oh, okay dear! I'm going to the market, is there anything you need?" she asked and Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat, "No mom!"

"Okay dear!" was all her mother said before the sound of a door closing was heard.

Just as that happened, the young girl scrambled away from the older one, Sakura looked almost bored as she watched herself clumsily take out a kunai from her bag, holding it up as if it could defend her "W-Who are you?! What are you doing in my house?! And why do you look like me?!" the younger girl shouted, trying to act tough but failing miserably, she was just too scared.

The girl threw the Kunai at Sakura but the young woman caught it with ease, "Seriously? Is that the best you could do? What sort of Kunoichi ARE you anyway?" she asked herself.

"H-Hey!" the girl squeaked as Sakura pulled her up by the collar of her red dress, "Relax, I won't hurt you, gaki*" Sakura sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting on it.

She glanced up from her short bangs to look at her past self; she was standing awkwardly near the door, fidgeting ever so often, well, she wouldn't enjoy a stranger barging in without answers either…

Sakura sighed again, "Okay, don't tell anyone I was here, I just wanted to sleep here, your bed is pretty comfortable and all."

The young pinkette stared at Sakura in confusion and nervousness; she didn't know what to say.

What an awkward way to start your morning.

"Who are you?" little Saku asked again, "Why do you look like me?"

Sakura chuckled, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me" she started, "But let's just say… I am '_**closely**_' related to you."

At this little Saku was now confused, "Related?"

"Ha-ha…Yeah… long story short: can I stay with you?" Sakura couldn't believe she was asking herself if she could stay in her own house… but hey, it makes sense in a way.

"N-No! I-I mean… okay…" Little Saku squeaked in fear when a hard glare was aimed her way.

'**Oh Kami, was this really me? What a useless Kunoichi… ugh…' **inner grumbled and Sakura agreed yet again.

"_**WHO ARE YOU CALLING USELESS?!" **_

Both Sakura and little Saku jumped at the voices that were heard in the room.

"What the-" Sakura started

'**Holy shit!'** Her inner gasped in surprise as little Saku's eyes widened too.

Everything went dead silent for a moment.

"Okay… What was that?" Sakura asked and the little girl shifted nervously, "You heard her?" Saku asked; she'll just call her past self 'Saku' for now.

"Yeah but… who?" Sakura suddenly had a gut feeling she knew who it was…

Temperamental, bitchy, whiney… annoying… it was none other then…

'**OMG it's my younger self's Inner!'** Sakura's inner self yelled, imaginably pointing at younger Saku.

'_**What the heck?! Am I hearing voices?!'**_ younger inner shouted and both Sakura and Saku stared at each other.

Okay, this was not normal.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author: Hey guys, this chapter is a bit longer, so I hope you like the story so far, review if you have any ideas and I just MIGHT add them to the story! 3 and you can vote for pairings if you want later on! **

**But until Sakura meets up with everyone else, we won't do any of that yet. I'll ask for it another time. until then, enjoy!**

…

There are 3 things Sakura had to deal with in the time span of 10 minutes.

1: Her inner self was telepathic with her younger inner self.

2: She had to explain to Saku who she really was because it had gone WAY too weird.

3: Little Saku was now lying on the floor, out cold.

And now, Sakura was waiting for her younger self to wake up; she was glad she left out the war, or her younger self might have had a heart attack.

What an amazing day!

She could just imagine all the happy suns and rainbows and flowers!

Not.

"If I ever get through this, I will need a physiologist" Sakura massaged her head and groaned, a migraine building up with all the shock she had to deal with these past 2 days.

Saku stirred, emerald eyes cracked open and the girl sat up but she chocked on her saliva when she saw her older self looking at her, "You weren't a dream?!" Saku squeaked and Sakura sighed, "No"

'_**God Damn! I think I need to see a doctor! I'm losing my mind here!'**_ young inner screeched.

'**You're not the only one! I'm not even supposed to be here! I should be dead! But noooo, I get sent back through time!'** older inner yelled back.

'_**And what the heck do YOU want me to do about it?! And what do you mean DEAD?!'**_ younger inner shook her imaginary fist.

'**I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE'** older inner pulled her hair.

Sakura and little Saku started at each other as their inners fought.

'_**Well…'**_ young inner grumbled, _**'despite the fact that this is really creepy… this is cool too, we're telepathic.'**_

'**I'm with you there'** older inner agreed.

The two girls sighed at the same time.

Sakura inwardly punched her inner (only people with inners would understand) and sucked in a breath, "Okay… younger me; as you know of, I was sent back through time and I don't even know how or why, so, until I manage to solve this little mystery… I'll stay with you."

Little Sakura looked at her bewildered, was she insane?!

"What? But how?! I mean, how can I hide you anyway?! Surely you'll be spotted at some point! And people will question why you look like me! Don't even get me started on my parents!" young Sakura exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'm an elite ninja, I can take care of all those minor issues" Sakura said, waving it off, "right now we're safe, so I won't have a problem"

The two fell into silence once again.

"So…" little Sakura started, a small grin peaking on her lips, "How am I in the future?" her eyes practically sparkled as she looked at her older self up and down, "Wow I'm an elite ninja! What awesome Jutsus do I know? How powerful am I? Did I beat up Ino in a battle?!" little Sakura gasped happily, "Did I end up with Sasuke-kun?!"

At the last sentence Sakura gave her younger self a good hit on the head.

"Ow!" little Saku held her aching head and crouched in pain, her eyes brimming with unshed tears "what was that for?" she whimpered, looking up at Sakura with hurt but her eyes widened when she saw a hard glare on the woman's face.

"Well, I've always wanted to give my old self a good beating" Sakura stared down at the young girl, whom shivered in fear at that look, "but why?" little Saku whined.

"Because you annoy me" Sakura growled and got up, "and now you know how Naruto feels" she added, and much to her annoyance, in the corner of her eye she saw little Sakura grimace, "what does that loser have to do with anything?" she asked but yelped when Sakura pulled her up by her hair, her eyes narrowing dangerously at her younger self, "Because Sakura…" she spat, "…Naruto will be your best friend, your comrade and the one you care about most, he will be precious to you as he is to me, so if you dare insult him again, you will have to deal with me… got it?"

She let the girl go and went to her closet where she knew she kept her weapons, they weren't sharpened.

"What? But- but how!? How can NARUTO of all people be my best friend?! He's- he's Naruto."

Sakura turned to look at her confused younger self and took out all the kunai and weapons; she then sat on her bed and started sharpening them.

"Naruto is the best person you will ever meet, Sakura" she said.

Little Sakura remained silent, deep in thought.

Well, she had been a little harsh on him lately now that she thinks about it… but he's so annoying!

How can she be friends with someone who is THAT annoying?!

"What about Sasuke-kun?" she asked and Sakura flinched a bit… telling her younger self that Sasuke eventually betrayed them and destroyed the village probably isn't the best idea, or that she was secretly planning on killing him soon.

But she doesn't want her younger self to be kept in the clouds either.

"You and Sasuke were never meant to be" she said and little Saku's eyes lost their shine, her head lowering in sadness, "But… but…"

"No buts, he isn't our type and there is more to people then just good looks, alright?" older Sakura said.

Saku frowned, "He doesn't end up with Ino-pig… does he?"

Sakura snorted, "He doesn't end up with anyone, just drop it Saku; you're not going to end up together, so it's not meant to be."

Little Saku looked confused but then her eyes narrowed in determination, _**'CHA! THEN I'LL MAKE IT BE!'**_ younger inner shook her fists and punched the air around her.

Sakura scoffed, not bothering to let her inner reply to Saku's inner.

"So, when's graduation day?" Sakura asked, finished with her third kunai and started on the fourth.

"2 weeks away" Saku replied but grinned, "Then I'll be a full fledged Shinobi!"

Sakura scoffed, yeah, some Genin SHE was…

"Good, I'll start training you until then" Sakura announced and little Saku looked at her in confusion, "train me?"

Sakura looked at Saku, she may not know why she was sent to the past, but she'd be damned if she let her younger self remain the same weak little girl she used to be.

"Yeah… that way you could be a rank higher then your classmates and maybe even be a better ninja when you reach my age" Sakura replied.

Saku looked up at the young woman…

Even from here, she could tell she looks powerful, she stood up straight and never let her guard down, her eyes look hardened and strict and little-Sakura just then felt a small pang of pride for herself.

'_**Wow, I'm so cool!'**_ young inner giggled childishly, _**'I can't wait to start training! That way I might even impress Sasuke-kun! And he'll end up liking me!'**_

Sakura resisted the urge to smack her younger self again, but resisted.

A crush isn't easy to get over right away, so she'll just changer her mind in time.

"So… um… when do we start training?" little-Saku asked and Sakura smirked, "Get ready, we're going to start right now."

Oh yeah… she will definitely NOT go easy on herself.

…

It was sundown.

People were going home from a rough day, ready to kick back and relax.

But not for a certain pink haired Kunoichi…

Twelve year old Sakura Haruno lay on the grass, her muscles aching, her body filled with scratches and bruises and her charka was utterly exhausted.

She groaned and looked up with much difficulty to see a pink haired woman glare down at her, "You call that skill? Get up!"

Little Sakura groaned, "But I'm tired!" she whined, her body screaming in protest as she somehow managed to get up.

From 15:00 pm where they reached the training grounds until 20:00 pm, young Haruno Sakura was being tortured from older Sakura with harsh training her little body did.

She had done 10 laps around the training grounds, she had to climb trees using her feet MORE then just a few times to build up her charka, and at last, for the past few hours she was fighting the older woman and didn't manage to land a scratch on her.

"Up until now you've done nothing to train your body! If you want to be a true Shinobi you must train harder!" older Sakura scolded as she watched her young self struggle to remain standing.

"But it's just the first day! I can't do everything in one day!" little Sakura groaned in protest as she fell to her knees, breathing hard.

Sakura sighed; okay maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be so harsh on her for the first day. As a medical ninja she knew that sooner or later Saku will faint from exhaustion.

"Alright…" walking over to the girl, she kneeled down and green charka embedded from her palm as she started healing the girl's scratches and bruises.

Little-Saku looked surprised, "wow, you can heal people?" she looked at the woman in awe.

"Yes, I can do many things in fact" she said

'_**Wow, I'm so cool!"**_ young inner squealed in glee_**, 'I can't wait to learn them all and kick Ino's butt!'**_

Sakura chuckled, lifting the tired girl on her back, piggy-back style.

"By the way Saku" Sakura started and the girl glanced at her, "Tomorrow, after school, we're going to get you a new wardrobe"

'_**WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY WARDROBE?!'**_ young inner screeched, punching the air.

'**It SUCKS, that's what! Take it from your older self!'** older inner replied and little Saku glared at Sakura.

'_**IT DOES NOT!' **_

'**DOES TOO!'**

'_**I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT TOMORROW!'**_

'**I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!'**

'_**CHA!'**_

'**SHANNARO!'**

…

Sakura groaned, the sunlight from the curtains that were abruptly pulled aside entering from behind her eyelids, making her squirm but then flinch.

Her body ached from yesterday's training; she looked up to see her older self stand over her with crossed arms, "Time for school!"

Sakura just pulled her pillow over her head, "I dun wanna go to school!" she moaned and whined when her pillow was taken away.

'_**GO THE HECK AWAY, I WANNA SLEEP DAMN IT'**_ young inner yelled.

Older Sakura went to say something but a knock on her door was heard, "Sakura honey! Time to get up!" her mother called and older Sakura did a quick Genjutsu so her mother wouldn't see her as she came in.

Sakura longed to embrace her mother, seeing her smiling and cheerful… it just pained her to see her again…

"Okay mom" Sakura groaned and sat up on her bed, her long hair in a mess and her nightwear mangled.

Seeing her daughter awake, the woman smiled and left, never noticing older Sakura was there and she stood there, lifting a brow at her younger self.

Saku growled but eventually got ready.

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" young Saku asked and the pink haired woman clicked her tongue, "I'll probably take a walk around the village and try and figure things out, maybe buy a few clothes for me… and for you."

Saku glared at the last sentence but nodded and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Wait, before you go…" Sakura walked over to the girl and kneeled down in front of her so they could be in eye-level, "Don't be mean to Naruto, he's a good kid; once you get to know him, you'll find that he's fun to be around, no matter how annoying he is… just try and talk to him…" she smiled a bit, "…trust me."

Little Saku gave an exasperated sigh but nodded anyway.

…

The young pinkette walked to school, her bag slung over her shoulders as she entered the gates.

She spotted Ino talking to a few girls but shrugged it off and went to class as the bell rang.

A few hours of teaching had passed and now it was lunch break.

She walked over to a tree, sat down and ate, she didn't have much friends. Considering she was the 'forehead-girl' but she didn't mind, as long as she was superior to the other girls to win Sasuke's attention, she didn't care.

Speaking of Sasuke, she looked over and spotted the black haired boy under a tree nearby, he was reading a book and eating; those black locks looked so soft, that pale face… those eyes… so mysterious and cool…

Sakura found herself blushing, feeling a bit nervous… she looked around, no other girl was in sight! This was her chance!

'_**CHA! I don't care what my older self says! Who said you can't change the future?!'**_ her inner puffed her chest and exclaimed loudly.

Feeling a bit nervous but confident, Sakura packed her lunch away and got up.

Sasuke felt a shadow over him and looked up, "um… hello Sasuke-kun…" Sakura shifted nervously, a tint of pink staining her cheeks, a small smile gracing her lips.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sight of her, "What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"Um… can I sit next to you?" she asked and Sasuke looked annoyed, he shifted his gaze to his book and just gave a grunt, "Whatever"

Sakura took that as a 'yes' and inwardly squealed, _**'he said yes! HAHA! Take that older Sakura! CHA!'**_

And so the pinkette sat down, her blush deepening as she released a small giggle, "Um… so… what are you reading?" she asked and the raven boy gave her a side glare, "I'm reading whatever I want to read, so can you be quiet? If you can't, you can go away" he snapped.

Sakura frowned at his snippy attitude; she remained silent and decided to watch her crush read.

The two sat in silence for a while.

She hadn't seen any girl sit so close to him before! Boy oh boy! She was lucky!

And nobody was around to annoy them!

Sakura's smile fell a bit when they both heard a commotion further away, Sasuke ignored it, but Sakura grew curious.

As much as she liked sitting next to Sasuke, curiosity got the best of her.

She gave a small sigh and got up, earning a small glance from her crush, "well, see you later Sasuke-kun, it was nice sitting with you!" she smiled and gave a small wave as Sasuke gave a grunt in reply.

She walked off, towards the noises.

She turned the corner of the building to see a boy clad in orange, standing across from a few boys who were arguing with him, it was none other than the troublemaker himself.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Sakura grimaced and decided to go sit back with her Sasuke-kun, but then she got a better look and furrowed her brows in confusion.

Naruto was standing rigid, fuming, his fists were clenched at his sides as he snarled at the boys who were laughing and pointing at him.

"Ha-ha! Freak! You really think you'll be able to graduate?! You're barely able to do any kind of exercise our teachers put on us! You're too useless to be a Shinobi!" one of the boys sneered.

"Oh yeah?! Well I'll show you! I'll show all of you! One day I'll become Hokage and then we'll see who's useless!" Naruto yelled back, his face twisted in fury.

The boys laughed, "You? Hokage? If that day ever comes I just might as well jump off a cliff!"

"Yeah well, better arrange your funerals pretty soon!" Naruto yelled as the boys walked off, laughing.

Even after the boys left, Naruto stood there. He lowered his head, lifting a hand to his face.

Sakura's brows lifted in wonder, is he crying?

Somehow she started feeling bad for the boy, being laughed at did hurt, she knew as much. Her forehead was a painful reminder…

"_Don't be mean to Naruto, he's a good kid; once you get to know him, you'll find that he's fun to be around, no matter how annoying he is… just try and talk to him…"_

Sakura let out a huff and decided to give it a chance… if her older self was best friends with Naruto… eventually it'll be the same for her too anyway… so she could give him a try now…

She cautiously made her way to the boy, seeing that he didn't move, he must have not noticed her… wait, was that a sniffle she heard?

"Um… hey… Naruto…" she started and the boy jumped in surprise, quickly wiping his face and looked to see none other then Sakura.

His eyes widened, "S-Sakura-Chan!"

He looked away, twiddling his fingers nervously, _'No way, she's talking to me'_ he thought as a blush crept up his whiskered cheeks.

"Um… yeah… are you okay?" she asked awkwardly, "Those boys didn't seem too friendly" she added.

Naruto glared at the ground and dropped his hands to his sides; "It's nothing Sakura-Chan!" he looked up and grinned, as if nothing ever happened, "Those jerks ran off screaming because I would have kicked their butts!" he puffed his chest, trying to look 'manly' even if he failed… his shortness played a small role in that one.

Sakura had the urge to roll her eyes, "Uh huh, sure… screaming, not laughing…" she drawled as Naruto's smiled drooped a bit, he scratched the back of his head nervously, "so… why are you here Sakura-Chan? Not that I have a problem! Not at all!" he quickly added, afraid she might take it the wrong way, "It's just that you don't talk to me often!"

Sakura bit her lip, not sure how to reply, "I don't know… I just thought that… you might have needed some company?"

Naruto's face reddened and a grin followed soon after, much to Sakura's annoyance, "Sakura-Chan…" Naruto started bashfully, "…are you asking me out?" he giggled like a little kid.

Sakura's eye twitched, _**'HOW THE HELL DID I BECOME FRIENDS WITH THIS CREEP?!'**_

"NO YOU IDIOT!" Sakura yelled and hit the blonde over the head, followed by a yelp from the boy "I WAS JUST BEING NICE! WHY DID I EVEN BOTHER WITH YOU?! JEEZ!"

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry Sakura-Chan! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" he whimpered and held his arms over his head in defense.

"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL A SANE PERSON WOULD DATE YOU! THAT'S FOR SURE!" she snarled and Naruto's happy-face fell completely, "Sakura-Chan…" he murmured as his eyes fell away from her stare.

Suddenly, a pebble flew out of nowhere and hit Sakura right in the middle of her forehead; "OW!" she stumbled back and held her aching spot.

"Sakura-Chan! Are you okay?" Naruto asked in concern, despite just being yelled at a second ago; that puzzled her for a sec.

She looked to where the pebble was thrown from and soon enough saw her older self sitting in the shadows of a tree, glaring down at her.

'**WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? APOLOGIZE TO NARUTO!'** Older inner screeched.

Sakura glared at the woman, _**'HOW THE HECK DO I DEAL WITH HIM?! HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT!' **_young inner replied in equal fury.

Older Sakura's glare hardened, **'If you don't do what I say, I swear I will go down there and pummel you myself!'**

The young pinkette flinched slightly and turned back at Naruto, who was looking at her in confusion, her stare-off lasted a few seconds, and the boy, along with herself turned to look at the tree.

Nobody was there.

"Sakura-Chan? What were you looking at?" the blonde asked and the girl cleared her throat, "It's nothing…" she sighed, "…Sorry I yelled at you, I kinda lost my temper, I didn't mean what I said."

Naruto grinned at her, "It's okay Sakura-Chan! I'm not mad, I know I must have said something dumb for you to get angry… sorry…" he scratched his head.

Sakura nodded and smiled at him too, trying to be as nice as she can, '_**At least you know that you're stupid'**_ her inner mumbled.

'**SHANNARO!' **she heard older inner screech, making her flinch slightly.

The bell rang, signaling that classes started.

"Hey Sakura-Chan, would you…. like to sit with me in class?" he asked timidly, _**'HELL NO!'**_ her inner yelled.

"Sure Naruto" she smiled nervously, feeling the blood lust aimed her way from a certain older ninja and quickly walked inside, Naruto in tow to try and avoid it as much as she can.

Damn she could be scary.

…

Sakura sat in the tree, watching her younger self quickly drag Naruto inside, "God Damn it… I can't believe I was such a brat back then…" she mumbled and rubbed her temples, guilt forming in the pit of her stomach, **'Naruto… I'm really sorry…'**

She shut her eyes and sucked in a breath, she opened them only for her to exhale with a hiss.

Black hair, pale figure… she narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of a boy casually walking inside the school for his next class…

Sasuke Uchiha.

'**We'll pay a little visit to him tonight, right Sakura?'** her inner self said darkly as her hand itched to grab a kunai from her pouch and hurl it towards the Uchiha.

'_Hell yeah.'_


	5. Chapter 5

**Author: Yay! Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them! I love you all, free hugs for everyone!**

…

Now, because we are all mathematic types and all… We can represent you with Sakura's view on this whole situation for the past week.

Naruto = Annoying

School = difficult

Older Sakura = a pain in the neck

Naruto + School + older Sakura = TORTURE

Does it sum up everything for you?

No?

Well, let's write a few more words on it.

The pinkette had agreed to sit with Naruto (oh behalf of older Sakura) until they graduated and in return as punishment, she had to put up with Naruto's bickering all day and even after school, since Sakura had agreed (*coughbeenforcedcough*) to hang out with Naruto even after school.

In which also included with the following:

"Sakura-Chan, I'm so happy you got to sit with me!" This, along with an attempted hug, equals a hit on the head.

"Sakura-Chan, how do we figure out this problem? I don't know what that means!" Sakura had somehow now become Naruto's tutor, courtesy of older Sakura.

"Sakura-Chan, I'm bored!" This is heard during all 7 hours of class.

"Sakura-Chan, can we go do something fun?" Also heard very often, he attempts to make her skip school with him to play a prank.

"Sakura-Chaaaan… can I please have some of that? I'm hungry…" He always asks her to share food with him, using these weird puppy-dog eyes that would have been really cute if Sakura wasn't so annoyed with him.

"Sakura-Chan, I really like you! Wanna go out with me?" He has been asking this constantly after school and had been following her home like a lost puppy until she reaches her door most of the time!

Now people; please tell us, is it wrong for Sakura to want to bash Naruto's mouth in?

He's been bickering and whining the whole damn week, 'Sakura-Chan' this and 'Sakura-Chan' that, like a freaking broken record! And to top that off, she had studying to do AND her older self was training her to exhausting hours.

And to make it worse?

Not only were kids laughing and calling them a 'couple' since the beginning, but she's spending too many hours away from her Sasuke-kun!

"Sakura-Chan…" It took Sakura all of her willpower not to smash this kid's face in, she had been dealing with him for the past week and she was at her limits.

She was almost sure Naruto now says her name more than the word 'Hokage'!

She had ended up as his nanny!

"What?" Sakura gritted her teeth and turned to look at him; the boy smiled slightly, pulling out something from behind his back.

Sakura was surprised to see that it was… a flower?

"Here Sakura-Chan! It's for you!" he gave her his trademark toothy grin and scratched his head, blushing madly.

Sakura was surprised, to say the least, she gingerly took the flower; it was a pink lily.

'_**Who knew this idiot had chivalry?'**_ inner Saku said.

"Wow, thank you Naruto" the pinkette smiled at him and the blonde giggled terribly similar to the way she does when she's around Sasuke.

"Well, Iruka-sensei told me that girls like flowers!" Naruto said clasping his hands behind his back, his whiskered cheeks crimson red as he shuffled on his feet.

Sakura then gave him a genuine smile; he had asked his teacher for advice? How cute.

Well, despite being a pain, Naruto had been treating Sakura very nicely; he had behaved when she yelled at him and he had done everything he could to keep her around, he usually tries to entertain her or try and act 'gentlemanly' to impress her, even if he fails in that department epically.

She might have not noticed some things before, but she wasn't blind; she knew he was lonely, he proved that much by sometimes pleading her to stay a bit longer with him or inviting her at his house.

And to tell the truth she was somewhat lonely too, a week ago she had gone to a girl's sleepover, but they weren't friends, she only invited Sakura just so she could be nice and Sakura only went to get Ino annoyed, and ruin some of her fun too!

Sakura smiled; well… maybe Naruto wasn't THAT bad.

"Um… you want to go eat ramen with me?" he asked gingerly and Sakura sighed, well, she may not like him at all…

But…

"Okay Naruto, but JUST as friends" the girl stated "and if you try anything funny I won't go eat with you again, got it?" she waved her finger in a scolding matter in front of the stunned boy.

"…friends?" Naruto asked, as if hearing the word for the first time.

"Um… yeah… it's what we are… aren't we?" Sakura asked in confusion, somehow older Sakura's words getting to her… but why was Naruto shocked?

I mean, she's been hanging around with him all week, he should already know that they had become 'friends' right?

Sakura guessed he hadn't… because in a split second his big blue eyes burst with sparkles and his grin split his face in half.

In a split second the wind got knocked out of her as she was engulfed in a big bear hug.

"Friends!" Naruto repeated in a cry and the girl practically felt his happiness seep through her shirt… but was happiness damp?

Wait…

Sakura pulled away to look at the blonde and her eyes widened, "Naruto! What's wrong?!"

What was the matter with this kid?! Why was he crying?!

"No Sakura-Chan! I-I'm just happy, you know? I didn't know we were friends! I never had a friend before!" the boy wiped away the saltwater droplets from his cheeks with his sleeves but more trickled down, his blue eyes shining in the light from his tears.

He gave her a look that made the girl's heart melt.

It was then that Sakura understood why her future-self was so close to Naruto.

"Well, now you know and now you do" the pink haired girl said and finally, for the first time in this week, she actually laughed, "Come on Naruto, let's go eat."

Naruto grinned; his smile seemed more genuine than ever, "Okay Sakura-Chan!" he grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the ramen stand.

…

20 year old Sakura Haruno sat in the shadows and stared at her younger self and her friend walk towards the ramen stand.

A smile reached her face. Finally her younger self got some sense and actually befriended him; she was happy she got to be his first friend…

Her heart clenched, **'I just wish I had done the same in my time…'**

The woman sighed, there were a lot of things she wish she had or hadn't done.

Luckily, she had been avoiding any contact with other people for the whole week besides her younger self… security was indeed low… and much to her expertise, nobody ever knew she was there.

Sakura then decided to go to the training grounds to let off some steam.

She had a lot of thinking to do, ever since last week…

…

_Sakura crept into the Uchiha mansion that night, as silent as ever. Not even the floorboard creaked as she softly stepped down on it from the window._

_She was an expert in silent killing and as an ANBU she was often assigned for assassination missions, usually paired up with Sai._

_With her hair and face masks on, she had her identity completely covered._

_Soon enough, she was standing in the doorway of Sasuke's room; there, silently sleeping, was none other than twelve year old Uchiha Sasuke._

_Sakura glared hard down at the sleeping figure; the boy was sound asleep, never noticing anything as Sakura pulled out her Kunai, she'll make it look like suicide instead of murder; it works better that way, nobody would get suspicious._

_Sakura inched the Kunai closer to his throat; now she would save the leaf village's future… nobody will die, everyone will live on happily._

_Sasuke betrayed them, he killed everyone, Sasuke killed so many innocent people who didn't deserve to die, he went insane and now he must die before he does any harm…_

_She pushed a black lock of hair away from his face with her Kunai, he was still dozing off in blissful sleep, his face calm, oblivious to the fact Death was knocking at his door… _**'Now you'll stay asleep you bastard! I'll put you out of your misery!'**_ Inner snarled._

_Sakura lifted her Kunai, ready to slice his throat._

_And then it happened…_

_God damn herself… it happened…_

_Sasuke's young face caused memories to flood in her mind, memories of team seven, of what they did and what they were…_

_They had been happy… back then Sasuke was good…_

_All the missions they went through…_

_All the fun they had together…_

_Sakura's Kunai hung a cm away from Sasuke's throat…struggling to do it._

_She didn't know what kind of higher power was holding her back… _**'Come on Sakura! Focus! That's the past now! He will eventually turn evil anyway!'**_ inner scolded._

_Sakura froze…it struck her like a ton of bricks._

_The past…_

_She was in the past…_

_She couldn't kill him… not _this_ Sasuke…this Sasuke hadn't done anything yet…he was still innocent…_

'**DAMN IT ALL'**_ inner yelled in frustration as Sakura sheathed her weapon again._

_She can't kill him… not now…_

_The black clothed assassin went to leave, but a small noise made her freeze in her tracks…_

_She turned to look at the boy sleeping on his bed._

_Sasuke stirred, a small groan escaping his throat as he turned over to his side, facing Sakura; his eyebrows bunched together as sweat started building up on his skin._

_From Sasuke's body language, he must be having a nightmare._

"_Itachi…" Sasuke whimpered, his hands clenching his sheets, "Why… Itachi…?"_

_Sakura, in all her life, had never seen Sasuke Uchiha in such a vulnerable state._

_It was really weird. No really… REALLY weird._

_He was having a nightmare about his clan's massacre, she was sure of it. _

_Sakura sighed through her nose and walked over to Sasuke, her hand embedding green charka as she placed it on his forehead._

_She'll put him out of his misery for now._

_The boy's tense body immediately relaxed, his face that was twisted in agony, had calmed down into a blissful expression as her cooling charka lulled him to a dreamless sleep._

_The woman sat on his bed, staring at the sleeping boy for a few moments as she calmed his literally tortured mind; she then sighed and went to get up, but was surprised to find the boy holding onto her shirt._

_With this action… If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Sasuke was desperate for human contact._

_The pinkette ran her fingers through her pink hair as Sasuke slept peacefully… god damn this kid… what is she going to do with him?_

_The boy gave a content sigh, "Kaa-san…" he murmured and curled up to the young woman; Sakura then had the urge to give a loud frustrated yell._

_Even if she hated Uchihas with all she had… _

_She just couldn't hate this one…not _this_ Sasuke._

_Not her childhood teammate…_

…

Sakura growled and punched a tree, uprooting it in the process… damn it!

If she just killed him the week before everything would be fine!

Right?

'**Blugh! I don't know anymore!'** inner Sakura screeched and pulled her hair.

She sat down and gave a long, frustrated huff of breath; she had sat all night with him; and had to quickly leave before he woke up.

And much to her self loathing, she had checked on him 3 times this week… only to find him always in a state of loss in his sleep. Maybe Itachi had cast some Genjutsu that tortures the human mind with nightmares? She had no idea, but every time she ever went, he had to use her charka to calm the boy's nerves down; yesterday he almost broke down crying in his sleep!

Who knew Uchiha Sasuke cried in his sleep every night?

Well… seeing your family being brutally murdered in front of you isn't exactly mentally healthy… and being completely alone with nobody to comfort you during your nightmares doesn't get a bonus at all.

So this is all what drove him to insanity in the first place.

She placed her face in the palms of her hands… okay if she can't kill Sasuke, then how the hell can she save the leaf village?

The woman groaned; she'll have to think of that another time… right now she had to start training with Little-Saku again.

Suddenly Sakura stood rigid… her muscles tensing as Goosebumps formed on her skin… she was being watched… she sensed a charka signature standing near the trees…

"Show yourself" she said tersely, and much to her dismay, she knew who that charka signature belonged to…

The figure landed gracefully quite a few meters away; he stood up straight…

Silver hair… mask… Jonin clothes…

Kakashi Hatake.

"In the name our leader, you are to be escorted to the Hokage tower" the man said sternly, that strict façade on him… Sakura wasn't exactly used to seeing her sensei look at her like that; but that was the least of her problems now…

The real problem was that she was caught…

'**Oh shit… we're screwed.' **


End file.
